Malhotra injury could eclipse division-title victory

Manny Malhotra grimaces in pain after being smashed in the face with a puck during the game against the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena on March 16, 2011 in Vancouver.Photo by
Jeff Vinnick

Two injury scares in two consecutive games and the first wish for the NHL’s top team is obvious. Can the playoffs start tomorrow before somebody else is struck by a puck?

When Manny Malhotra left the ice in a bloody mess Wednesday after a second period neutral-zone collision with Erik Johnson — in which the Vancouver Canucks centre was hit by the puck above the eye — it brought the biggest postseason fear into focus.

Malhotra was sent to the hospital with blood in his eye and the actual extent of the injury won’t be known until today. There’s some fear of a broken orbital bone.

“I don’t think anybody should speculate one way or the other,” cautioned Canucks coach Alain Vigneault.

Then again, team doctors were huddled in a hallway long after the game, so read whatever you want into that. So, forget a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena that gave the club seven straight triumphs and secured the franchise’s third consecutive Northwest Division title and fourth in the last five years.

Forget extending the dominance of the Avalanche to 5-0-1 to end the season series. A long-term injury to Malhotra would be crippling in many ways.

The highlight reel will show a Daniel Sedin drop pass between the legs and Henrik Sedin snapping the offering to the far side on Brian Elliott at 11:50 of the third period to snap a 2-2 tie before the captain added an empty-net goal. It will also show Alex Burrows backhanding home a puck in the crease to draw the Canucks even at 9:32.

But it should show more.

One game after it looked like Sami Salo might have suffered his 41st career injury when struck on the left elbow Monday by a Kyle Brodziak point shot, the Canucks are trying to keep their game intact and their lineup healthy in pursuit of the President’s Trophy. The silver lining is Kevin Bieksa returning next week from a hairline foot fracture and Alex Edler having an on-ice skills session Wednesday morning after lower-back surgery. Another silver lining was adding Chris Higgins and Maxim Lapierrie at the trade deadline.

Not only did Lapierre score his first goal in nine games as a Canuck by ramming a behind-the-net feed from Higgins between the pads of Elliott in the second period to narrow a two-goal deficit, Vigneault was able to insert Higgins between Raffi Torres and Jannik Hansen on the third line. The fourth line was even better.

“I’m confident that I can fill a lot of different spots,” said Higgins, who logged 17:18 and had two shots. “A strength of my game is doing the little things that might not get noticed as much as putting up the points, but that’s fine with me. As long as we win.

“And we’re starting to develop chemistry. Max works his ass off and he’s all heart. He puts the team first and will do anything asked of him.”

Lapierre was asked to shut up and put up when acquired and has meshed with Higgins, his former Montreal teammate. His goal started with a good Jeff Tambellini forecheck and finished with Lapierre showing some finish.

“It’s coming,” said Lapierre, who played 13:56. “Every night I feel better and to be honest, I haven’t said a word between the whistles and I’m focusing on my game. I want to bring energy and keep things simple.”

Daniel Sedin has certainly noticed.

“It’s probably the best fourth line in the league,” said the NHL scoring leader. “Hopefully, Manny is all right and if we can keep the ice at a good level for everybody, we should be fresh going into the playoffs.”

Added Vigneault: “Higgins was real strong in his one-on-one battles and he competes along the wall and that was a real good thing. It’s going to help.”

Of course, replacing Malhotra won’t be easy if he’s out long term. Cody Hodgson might be the best recall option from the Manitoba Moose, but it’s hard to mirror what Malhotra has managed to do for the Canucks after the free agent signed a three-year, $7.5-million-US deal in the offseason. Aside from six points in his previous six games and 11 in the last 14, the centre ranks second in league faceoff efficiency at 61.7 per cent and is a big reason why the Canucks entered Wednesday’s game with the second-best penalty kill at 86.7 per cent, a fraction behind Pittsburgh’s 86.9.

However, it was an Avalanche power-play goal in the first period that gave the listless Avalanche life. With just one win in their last 19 games (1-16-2) and suffering from 358 man-games lost to injury, they opened scoring at 11:20 when Johnson fired a slapshot to the short side on Cory Schneider. Less than two minutes later, a cross-ice pass by Matt Duchene went off the left skate of Salo in the slot and changed direction on Schneider to find the far side. The Avalanche nearly made it 3-0 to when Duchene spun on a 2-on-1 break and found Mark Olver, whose shot rang off the crossbar.

The league’s top-ranked power play also didn’t have a sniff until the third period as the Avalanche, who have given up the most goals and own the 29th-ranked penalty kill, stayed out of the box until Daniel Sedin drew a penalty.

Maybe Tambellini put it best about a fourth line that has given the Canucks a better playoff preparation posture.”I came here to win,” said Tambellini. “And if Higgins is my fourth-line left winger, then life is good.”

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